Jeneen Frei NjootliI can’t make you those mitts because there is a hole in my heart and my hands hurt

PerformanceThursday March 15, 20188pm

Exhibition continues to April 21, 2018

Artspace378 Aylmer Street NorthPeterborough, ON

Please join Artspace on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 8pm for a special performance by Jeneen Frei Njootli. Frei Njootli’s performance will mark the opening of the artist’s solo work I can’t make you those mitts because there is a whole in my heart and my hands hurt. The one-night-only performance is free, but space is limited. A reception will follow the performance. The following day, please join us for a discussion with Olivia Whetung and Jeneen Frei Njootli at 1pm.

These events will coincide with the launch of a new publication that focuses on the work of Frei Njootli, with writing by Erin Sutherland and Olivia Whetung. The limited run of 150 publications will be available for purchase at Artspace and through the centre’s website.

“Jeneen Frei Njootli’s sounds tell stories, a sure sense of presence. They are stories of hooves on the earth, of interspecies whispers, and of the sacred place where life begins. Stories of bodies feeding other bodies. Stories of survival.”- Olivia Whetung

Vuntut Gwitchin artist Jeneen Frei Njootli engages directly with Gwich`in territory and culture through her lived experience and land based practices. The artist defines this approach as bushed theory - “a radical, grassroots way of being; one that requires getting some caribou blood and fish guts on your hands.” Frei Njootli realizes this land-based methodology in the gallery by working with sounds, dust, grease, and power tools. The traces and residues of Frei Njootli’s sonic landscapes and physical markings remain once the artist’s body leaves the gallery space, reminding us of the artist’s labour, presence, and motion.

I can’t make you those mitts because there is a hole in my heart and my hands hurt is presented in partnership with Public Energy - Peterborough, Ontario’s animator of contemporary dance, theatre, performance, and interdisciplinary work.

BioJeneen Frei Njootli is a Vuntut Gwitchin artist and co-creator of the ReMatriate collective, based on unceded Coast Salish Territories in Vancouver. Sound, performance, fashion, workshops, and barbeques are some of the ways her practice takes shape. She is the recipient of the 2017 Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver Artist Prize.